Almost 60% of Our Turn to Speak participants reported experiencing some level of stigma or discrimination in accessing welfare and social services during the last 12 months. Of the 238 participants who selected welfare and social services as one of their top three most affected life domains, 63.0% reported ‘frequent’ or ‘very frequent’ rates of stigma and discrimination in this area. "Getting on the DSP is so very difficult and I am still in the process after 4 months living with extreme anxiety. Just going into appointments crushes me. After going to a psychologist to get evidence I was faced with my situation in life and was so suicidal I had to go to the ED for some hours to calm down. Back in the 90s the system was much more kind and I would go on and off the DSP when I was too unwell to work. Now the process may well end me." – Our Turn to Speak participant, Tasmania On average, 69.7% of participants said they had experienced stigma and discrimination in welfare and social services. On average, 78.8% of participants said they anticipated stigma and discrimination in welfare and social services. On average, 50.9% of participants said they had stopped themselves from accessing or using welfare and social services because of stigma about mental health issues. 29.4% said they have had positive experiences in connection with their complex mental health issues when accessing or using welfare and social services. Explore the findings in more detail
